


The Life of Octavian

by Zyzzyva



Category: The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: For some reason I like insane characters, He can be considered insane I suppose, M/M, Multi, Nah insane, Octavian is a depressed potato, Or just weird
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-14
Updated: 2016-12-13
Packaged: 2018-09-08 12:07:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8844271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zyzzyva/pseuds/Zyzzyva
Summary: Octavian gets a second chance in life to fix his mistakes.





	1. Chapter 1

Nico woke in the middle of the night to realize he wasn't in his bed. He recognized it as his father's palace in the underworld.

"Hello, son." Nico turned around to see Hades, sitting comfortably on his throne.

"Hello." Nico had a better relationship with his father than some demigods, but it certainly didn't completely fill the gap.

"I suppose you're wondering why I brought you here."

"I was wondering that, yeah."

"I need you to bring a demigod back to the world of the living. He died at the wrong time, the wrong way."

"You don't normally care, do you? What's different about this demigod?" Nico was suspicious.

"He's needed for something in the living world. It's not my choice. You're right, I normally don't care. But this is important."

Nico pursed his lips. "I don't have a choice, do I?"

Hades shook his head. "No."

Nico sighed. "Alright."

"Good." Hades smiled, summoning the spirit of the demigod in his hand. "Here." He leaned down, tipping the spirit into Nico's outstretched hands.

As Nico left to return to the living world, Hades looked approvingly at him. "Thank you, son. You've made me proud."

Nico awoke just inside of the barrier outside Camp Halfblood, leaning against Thalia's tree. For a brief moment, he wondered why he was there. Then he remembered.

Looking around for the other demigod, Nico saw him. He lay huddled on the ground, shivering violently. Nico gasped, recognizing the dirty blond hair and the skinny frame.

"Octavian," he rasped.

The son of Apollo opened his eyes, looking up at Nico. He sat up slowly, as if it pained him. "Nico," he gasped, face full of disbelief, as if he couldn't believe Nico was actually there.

"You're the demigod my father wanted me to bring back to the living world?"

Octavian nodded mutely.

Nico bit his lip. "Hades said you'd died at the wrong time and the wrong way. Do you know what he meant by that?"

"I'm not sure. All I know was that I was aware I was dead. It hurt, and I could hear all of the other spirits, and. And-" Octavian broke down, sobbing into his hand. Nico could see scars on his arms.

"That's not how death is supposed to work. Hades must have meant that something happened, and you died the wrong way. As in something went wrong."

Octavian looked up at him, his dirty face covered in lines from his tears, and nodded.

Nico could feel a deep sympathy for the augur. He knew enough about the underworld, and if you could hear the voices of the spirits... Nico shivered. Octavian had been there for a year. No wonder he was so broken.

He knelt down to put a hand on Octavian's shoulder. "I'm sorry. But you're alive now, and that's all that matters. You'll be fine. Now, I'll take you into Camp Halfblood. Will will be awake, and he'll help you. You definitely need some nectar and ambrosia. Can you walk?"

Octavian nodded mutely and stood up. He wobbled slightly, but Nico grabbed him firmly and led him down the hill.

Will had not had a good day. Clarisse had badly wounded a daughter of Demeter after she'd tried to grow a flower for Chuck, Hedge's son, and had accidentally cut Chuck little hand in the process. Chuck had been fine, only crying a tiny bit. Hedge had (surprisingly) been understanding of the girl's good intentions, but Clarisse had been furious.

Ever since the afternoon, he'd been the treating the girl's wounds. She was fine now, but Clarisse wasn't a daughter of the war god for nothing. The girl had been bleeding hard.

Of course, nothing helps your mood like your boyfriend walking through the door of the infirmary with someone you thought was dead.

"What's this?" Will asked, confused.

Nico shook his head, obviously tired. "I'll explain later. Right now, he needs ambrosia and nectar."

"I can see that," Will snapped. He sighed and started to get them out. He pointed to a bed for Octavian, who looked like he'd fall over at any moment. The augur sat down gratefully and rubbed his eyes.

"Don't do that," Will said. "Your hands are filthy."

"All of me is, it won't make any difference," Octavian said quietly.

"That's not the point. Here. Eat this." Will gave him a packet of ambrosia to eat and started to pour a glass of nectar.

Octavian ate the ambrosia and drank the nectar obediently, then swiftly fell asleep.

Will sat down and yawned. "Okay Nico, explain all of this." As Nico explained, Will's eyes widened.

"Wow."

"Yeah. Now, you should go to sleep. You look exhausted."

"I am. But yeah, you're right."

Nico smiled and planted a kiss on his forehead, and left. "I'll be back in the morning. Good night."

Will smiled tiredly and watched him leave. What had he done to deserve such a good boyfriend as Nico?

A while ago, he had asked Leo to build him his own room off the side of the infirmary so he could be close to his patients. He felt more at home there than the Apollo cabin. Now, he went to it and collapsed onto his bed. Nico had been right. He was exhausted.

Later that night, Will awoke to screams. Sitting up in bed, he listened. They came from the infirmary. He got up, and ran out to see which bed it came from. He quickly identified it from Octavian's bed.

Running over to him, he kneeled down. Octavian was huddled in the bed, shaking hard. He had his hands on his head as if it was causing him pain, and he was still screaming.

"Shh, shh," Will whispered, running his hand over Octavian's head. "Shh. It's alright."

Slowly, the augur calmed down and opened his eyes. He stared at Will as if he couldn't believe Will was real.

"What's wrong?" Will asked softly.

"It's-It's-" Tears streamed down the boy's face. Will noticed that though he'd been dead a year, the augur hadn't aged a day. He was still wearing the same clothes he'd died in, though they were torn and dirty.

"Yes?" Will sat down on the bed next to him.

"I can hear the voices of the dead in my mind. They were talking to me. Trying to convince me I was still dead." Octavian shivered violently.

"It's alright. You're alive. You're in the land of the living." Will rubbed his back.

Octavian only nodded.

"In the morning we'll get you cleaned up and get you some new clothes. Then we'll have to bring you to Chiron and explain."

"Will he let me stay?"

"Of course he will. You're still a demigod, and it's not as if we'll just kick you out."

"But-"

"No buts. Of course you'll be allowed to stay. Okay?"

"Okay." Octavian nodded and snuggled down in his blankets. He still looked a bit scared, but much more relaxed than earlier. In a matter of minutes, he was back asleep.

Will looked at him closely. It was hard to compare this sleeping Octavian to the one that had been screaming just a few minutes before, or the crazy, power hungry Octavian who had accidentally killed himself. Despite everything that the former Octavian had done, Will would help him.

Going back to his room and laying back down, Will fell asleep quickly.


	2. Chapter 2

Early in the morning Nico went over to the infirmary.

"Hello?" He asked, coming in.

"Hey, Nico." Will seemed tired, but not as exhausted as last night.

"Hey." Nico came up and kissed him on the cheek. "How's Octavian doing?"

"I don't know. Last night he wasn't doing so great, but he's slept well since around two or so."

"What happened?" Nico asked.

"He woke up screaming. He told me he could hear the voices of the dead."

"Well, I know how that feels."

Will nodded. "So, should we go to see Chiron now?"

"Probably. It's been long enough already."

"Okay. Let's go get Octavian, then."

"Okay." They went over to the bed where Octavian was just waking up.

"Hey, Octavian. How do you feel this morning?"

The augur shrugged.

"Well, okay then. We should go see Chiron now."

Octavian nodded.

Walking over to the Big House, Nico and Will watched Octavian closely. He was obviously doing a lot better than the night before, and he barely stumbled. He still looked as if he was dead (which was a bit more accurate than either of them were comfortable with), but it was certainly an improvement.

As they entered the door of the Big House, Chiron almost jumped out of his skin (well, and fur). Octavian looked down, blushing.

"Morning Chiron!" Will said cheerfully, causing Nico to roll his eyes.

"Ummm, good morning, Will," Chiron said.

Will grinned. "I suppose you're wondering why we're here!"

Chiron nodded. "Well yes, actually."

"Well, Nico came up to the infirmary last night with Octavian. Maybe Nico should explain."

"Sure." Nico nodded once. "My father contacted me last night." Chiron raised his eyebrows. "He wanted me to bring a soul back to the living world, saying that they had died in the wrong way, at the wrong time. It turned out to be Octavian, so I brought him to Will. That's it."

Chiron nodded and turned to the augur. "Well, welcome back to the world of the living, Octavian.

The boy nodded. "Thanks you, Chiron."

"You look terrible. Will, take him back to the infirmary and get him cleaned up."

Will nodded. "Of course." He waved at Octavian to follow him, and they made their way back to the infirmary.

"What do you think, Nico?" Chiron asked.

"He's already died once, and I did nothing to help."

"Understood."


	3. Chapter 3

Octavian looked distastefully at the clothes Will had handed him.

"What?" Will asked. "You can't wear a toga your entire life."

The augur sighed. "I suppose not.""

"There's a shower over there." Will pointed over to it.

Octavian nodded and went in.

Will sighed and sat down on the bed to wait.

Nico came into the infirmary and sat down beside him. "Hey."

"Hey. How's it going?"

"It's fine. I was going to ask you the same thing."

"I'm fine. Still a bit tired, but I'm fine."

Nico looked concerned. "I'm sorry."

Will shrugged. "I'm used to it. You have to be ready to lose some sleep if you're a doctor."

Nico sighed. "Even if you're the doctor, I'm the one advising you. You NEED to get more sleep."

Will shrugged again and leaned on Nico. "Whatever."

Nico smiled and leaned against him in turn.

Octavian came out of the showers wearing the new clothes Will had given him. "I'm done."

"Great! Feeling better?"

"I guess."

Will nodded. "That's good."

"Thanks." Octavian seemed genuinely thankful for the concern.

"No problem. So..." Will thought for a minute. "Do you want to see the rest of the camp?"

Octavian shook his head. "No."

"Are you sure? Otherwise you'll have to stay here all day. It'll be boring, since I'll have to work."

Octavian raised an eyebrow. "That's fine."

Will shrugged. "Okay."

At that exact moment, Percy walked in the room.

"Woah... What's going on?"


	4. Chapter 4

Percy pointed at Octavian, anger showing plainly on his face. "WHAT are you doing here?"

Octavian, looking scared, whimpered, "I-I-"

Will came forward, setting his hand on Percy's shoulder. "Calm down, dude. It's fine."

"What is HE doing here?" Percy hissed. "He's- he was dead!"

"Hades told me to bring him back," Nico said, walking up.

"Well, there's no accounting for the gods' good taste," Percy mumbled.

Octavian was watching him with a wary look, having backed into the shadows in the corner of the room.

Percy sighed. "Annabeth will be here soon. So will the others." By others, he was referring to Piper, Leo, Hazel, Frank, Jason, and Piper. Hazel and Frank had come back from Camp Jupiter to visit for a while because, as Frank had put it, 'they were bored of being praetors'.

Will put his head in his hands. "Of course," he groaned. "So in other words we'll have to explain this like five times."

Percy nodded. "Yeah, probably."

Of course, the others arrived right then.

"Hey Will, hey Nico," Jason said, then noticed Octavian in the corner. "Okay, what's going on?"

Leo looked furious. He almost shouted as he stormed up to the augur. "YOU."

Octavian whimpered again and Will came forward, pushing Leo back. "It's fine. Calm down."

"It's fine?! He KILLED me!"

"It wasn't my fault," Octavian said quietly, as if he didn't quite believe what he was saying.

Leo sighed. "Yeah, I know. But I should still be able to mad at you, right?"

Octavian almost smiled, and Will knew that everything would be all right. Octavian could live a happy life at Camp Halfblood.


End file.
